Recovery and the pairing key

A device's key lives in that phone's hardware and cannot be copied — not into a backup, not to a new phone. That is what makes it safe, and it means a reinstalled or replaced phone has to be re-admitted to the identity it had. Joining with a fresh invite would make it a new, second person, who cannot see the first one's lists or backups.

In the app, choose Reinstalled this phone? Reconnect it on the pairing screen. There are three ways back in; use whichever you have.

1. A device link code

If you still have another enrolled device — a tablet, the old phone — create a device link code there and enter it on the new phone. Nothing else is needed.

The owner can also create a link code for somebody else's identity. That is the easiest way to get a family member back in without handing them the pairing key.

2. Your recovery code

Every member is shown a 20-character recovery code once, when they first join. Entering it on the new phone puts that phone back on their identity.

• The code is single-use. The app shows its replacement straight away — save that one too.
• The server only stores a hash of it, so it cannot be looked up later.
• Lost it but still have a working device? You can generate a new one from the app, which invalidates the old one.

This is the route for a member who has neither a second device nor the pairing key.

3. The master pairing key

Whoever runs the server can use the pairing key to reconnect a phone as any existing member: the app lists the identities on the server and you pick the right one.

The pairing key is the administrator password

The pairing key can admit a new owner, claim the owner role, and reconnect a phone as any member — which includes access to that member's backups on the connector. Keep it in a password manager, don't send it to family members (send invites instead), and don't commit it to a public repository.

Changing the pairing key

Stop the container, replace the key (the PAIRING_KEY variable or the contents of pairing-key.txt), and start it again. Phones that are already enrolled are not affected: they authenticate with their own device keys, not with the pairing key.

The key must be at least 12 characters, or the connector refuses to start.